Juliet of the Spirits (Giulietta degli Spiriti)
May 27th, 2010 | By Ophelia
Some of the film buffs in da house may have figured out that a large part of the name ‘Ophelia of the Spirits’ also comes from the film ‘Juliet of the Spirits’, made by Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. Why, you ask? That is a question that can’t be covered in only one post, so suffice for now to talk a little bit about the film, which is a surrealist journey where Juliet (or Giulietta in Italian) – played by Giulietta Masina, explores her subconscious and the odd lifestyle of her sexy neighbor, Suzy (Sandra Milo), as she attempts to deal with the mundane life and philandering husband (Mario Pisu) that oppress her. As she increasingly taps into her desires, as well as her demons, she slowly gains more self-awareness and, ultimately, independence.
I saw lots of parallels between Shakespeare’s Ophelia and Giulietta (Juliet) (weirdly of course, also the name of another of Shakespeare’s tragic heroines), although Juliet’s ability to deal with her demons in the film, and her ability to strike out on her own, achieving freedom and happiness, was in stark contrast to the ending of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was as if these two characters, one medieval, one contemporary, had struck at the heart of the question of a woman’s spiritual and sexual independance, but had experienced such different endings as a result (who would forget Hamlet’s “Get thee to a nunnery” speech!?).
As a weird aside, Fellini’s private life was a subject of much debate and controversy, and the lead actress in Giulietta degli Spiriti, also called Giulietta (Masina) in real life, was also Fellini’s real-life wife. So much has been made over whether this film was in fact art imitating life – what a weird weird situation to have found themselves in!
More to come, for now, you can learn more about Juliet of the Spirits at:
Juliet of the Spirits on Wikipedia
Another VERY weird side-note: I had no idea the B-52’s had done a song called “Juliet of the Spirits”!!
Here are some clips from the movie with the B-52’s song (just for laughs!):
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